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[duerespectguv]

Declan's spent most of the day walking around the city because while it's not his London, it's London and he's missed it terribly. The streets are mostly the same as the ones he knows from home, at least, and it's nostalgic to wander around and know this was where James Watson had grown up and lived the most important years of his life. He misses James terribly when he's home because the UK Sanctuary is his home and wandering around and not seeing it in this version of London tugs at him a little.

He ends up at Kate's hut, or what was her hut, anyway, and waits just outside on the stoop for a bit to see if she'll come home. If not, he'll let himself in but he likes to respect her privacy. He's not really a fan of the Victorian clothes but he concedes to it since there's no other option and he's sporting a tweed suit and an overcoat that would have made James proud.

Besides, it's James' fault that he even knows how to tie a cravat to begin with. He'd have loved this.

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[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate hears the odd catch in his voice, but she's not sure what to do about it. They suck at talking, but if something's wrong... She pulls back, biting her lip and looking at him, expression soft. Her fingers slip through his hair. "You doing okay, babe? Magnus is eating this up, but she's kind of weird like that. I don't...just, you know, if you're not or you want to talk about it or anything, it's okay."

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"I miss James. Druitt's here now and all I want is for it to be James instead. I miss my family."

He doesn't want her to think that he doesn't want this or that she's not enough for him but he's never really been away from his own stomping grounds this long since he was in the military. It's a shift.

"Just nostalgic, is all."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate kisses him again softly and shifts, fitting herself into his lap and his arms. She's not very good at the whole comforting thing, but it's easier with him than Magnus. With him she can make herself quiet and let him hold onto her, even if it makes her feel things that she'd kind of rather not deal with.

"It sucks, babe. I'm sorry. I wish it was him too, if that means anything. Maybe he'll come, sometime?" Going home isn't gonna help with James, since he's dead. Score one good thing about the island. "I wish you were spending the holidays with your family. Then I could come see you at New Year's or something and totally fail at being appropriate. It'd be fun."

[duerespectguv]

"Oh, definitely. New Years, I'd have you all to myself but I'd like you to meet my family too. I miss knowing I always have a place to go for the holiday," Declan admits.

"Even when we were too busy, James and I used to always have Christmas dinner together. I couldn't really introduce him to my family so some years I tried to stay with him so he wasn't so lonely."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"I never had a place to go for the holidays." It's awkward. Talking. But he needs to and she's pretty sure that listening is in the girlfriend contract. She shifts again so she can rub his chest with her hand. Hers always aches when she's talking about shit like this, so maybe it'll be soothing or something. "Which sucked sometimes but I was used to it. I think it must suck a lot worse to grow up with all that and have it taken away."

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"You deserve better," Declan says quietly, covering her hand over his chest, right over his heart. "I aim to give you better, at least, and if I ever miss the mark, please let me know. I love you too much to let you want for affection."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine, babe." Kate leans up to kiss his jaw. He's too damned sweet for his own good. "More worried about you right now." Being small has some advantages for being a girlfriend, she's figured out. As long as she's careful with the heels of her boots - which she is - she can curl right up to him like a kitten. "You were talking about James. Your stories are a hell of a lot less boring than Magnus and Will's. Talk if you want. I'm not much good with headshrinking but I can listen."

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Declan arches a brow. "You just said that Helen Magnus is boring. How is that even possible, love?"

Still, it's amusing and having her curled up on him is nice. He lets his hand drift into her hair to stroke it while he talks.

"James is...complex. And so lonely, even more isolated than Magnus is. I used to drink scotch with him in his study and listen to old stories about The Five, I never got bored of it."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"You've never had to sit in a room with her when she's obviously telling stories to Will." Kate flashes him a soft little grin. "You're talking to me. That makes you a thousand times more interesting before you even open your mouth."

Besides, he's touching her. That's the best thing in her life right now.

"I don't think there's scotch in this place but I can go find a bottle of something if you want. You can tell me stories about the Five." That's the only good thing about Victorian London so far. Real alcohol.

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"Wine, maybe? Something we have around the house, though, I don't want you running off on me."

When he's raw like this, he needs Kate in a way that isn't just about sex or blowing her mind and he's glad she seems happy to oblige.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Before she uncurls from his lap, Kate gives him a long look, searching for the clues for the right moves. She doesn't know how to read him like this. She's not Will. Just a good con. There's no game here and she's at a loss.

She leans up and kisses him again, soft and as affectionate as she knows how to be. "Be right back, okay?"

[duerespectguv]

"Take all the time you need, love," Declan says and that's sincere, at least. He knows this is probably outside of her ilk because, frankly, it's outside of his. If the island didn't look like London right now, he wouldn't be nearly so out of sorts.

As it is, he misses home, he misses his family and he misses James Watson like burning.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

It takes her a few minutes to find glasses in her new kitchen. She does sort of like having one. Maybe she'll see about one of the newer huts if this ever changes back. It better change back. Having a fireplace and everything in the house is nice, but it's really fucking with Declan.

Kate comes back a few minutes later with two crystal goblets and an open bottle of red wine. She's not a wine drinker at all, but if it's what Declan wants, she doesn't mind.

"Here, babe," she says softly, almost uncertain. Maybe Declan's not the only one this is fucking with after all.

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Declan catches that uncertainty in her tone but he doesn't note it, just thanks her for the wine and sips for a moment before speaking again.

"I've never considered myself as anything but straight except for James Watson. Weird, isn't it?"

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate hands him her glass to hold for a minute, unlaces her boots and then slips them off. She sits on the couch again, not him, and tucks her feet under her before reaching for the glass again.

"Not that weird, babe. You loved him a lot. Makes sense to me that it wouldn't matter he was a guy."

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"Maybe, yeah. What I felt for him was so complicated. I think it's a rule of Sanctuary life that you always fall in love with your head of house," Declan says, laughing.

"Though none have ever taken it as far as Will has."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

He's said it before, when she admitted to having fallen for Magnus. But it's still funny, and she smiles at him and shifts a little closer. "Too bad you're not my head of house, babe. Rings have nothing to do with how far I'd take it."

She's just teasing and playing a little, trying to lighten his mood a little.

[duerespectguv]

"Rings? Do tell, Katie. I don't think I've heard this particular story about how you'd like me to be your head of house."

Maybe it's offtopic but he'd rather be teasing her than dwelling and she's given him the opportunity.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

"As I recall, it involved a lot of working under you," she reminds him and takes a sip of her wine like the idea isn't so fucking hot she can't stand it. "I guess there could be rings involved...cockrings, nipple rings, D-rings on collars." Yeah, Kate can feel her eyes smoldering.

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"Fuck," Declan hisses under his breath, taking a long gulp of wine to cover his particular reactions to that. God. She knows just how to play him.

"You'd get pierced for me, if I asked you to?"

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Ohgod. Her eyes darken fast and fingers curl tighter around her wine glass. Not exactly what she was talking about but... "I might, yeah. Never really thought about it. Kind of dangerous in a fight. Not gonna lie and say I don't like what the idea's doing to you, though."

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"Nipples might be dangerous in a fight. Nipples aren't the only places you can get pierced," Declan points out.

He hates the fact that his neck's probably red because she's gotten him riled up with the thought but he's English. Pale comes with the territory and he's got no poker face when it comes to Kate anyway.

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

Kate half chokes on her wine, and her eyebrows climb straight up into her hairline. "Because I'm not always already running hot for you, you want me to pierce my clit?" She's not ticked or anything. More just...surprised. It's so not like him, but he's completely hot over the idea. And getting flushed. "I'm not saying no, but being turned on in the middle of a fight's a hell of a distraction."

There are a lot less permanent ways to give him the same thrill though, and now she can't stop thinking about it. Fuck.

[duerespectguv]

"Because I want to make you run hotter for me. But yes, probably not a good idea in a fight, no."

Declan shifts a little to try and hide the worst of his reaction to this conversation from her. "I don't know what the hell you do to me, Katie."

[girlsolo.livejournal.com]

If she runs any hotter for him, she's going to spontaneously combust. Fuck. No one's ever wound her up like this.

Kate sets the wine glass on the table behind her. "I know what I want to do to you." It starts with getting her hands inside those trousers.